Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Rhubarb Galore!

We have a massive pile of rhubarb growing in our backyard. Kyle picked a pile and I made my annual summery Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Rhubarb Crisp and Rhubarb Cobbler. But I was left with about a cup of chopped rhubarb – the perfect amount to make Upside-Down Rhubarb Cake from Meredith McCarty’s Sweet and Natural cookbook. It’s very caramel-like since the upside-down topping has brown rice syrup, which I actually use now! For years I’ve had BRS stashed in my pantry and I always tended to sub maple syrup for it after having tasted some disgusting Rice Dream frozen dessert. Thank goodness for Isa, as her recipes encouraged me to try rice syrup products again and I’m so glad! Anyways, back to the recipe – good, a little flatter than I expected, but tasty.

Speaking of flat, I used same said rhubarb to make muffins. I used this recipe, but made it two ways. First, I used clabbered soymilk instead of the soy sour cream, producing a rather soggy muffin. Delicious, but very crumbly and sticky. The second time, I actually followed the recipe...a first for me! The muffin was much drier this time, which leads me to believe, according to the Goldilocks legend, that the next time I make this recipe (with a few modifications), it will be perfect!